


when i leave (your arms)

by my_infinite_variety



Series: a runaway american dream [6]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Awkward Tension, Dead Kate Argent, Dork Derek Hale, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Derek Hale, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Road Trips, Second Kiss, Slow Build, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23269096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_infinite_variety/pseuds/my_infinite_variety
Summary: stiles and derek make up after derek pushes him away during their first kiss.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: a runaway american dream [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669585
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	when i leave (your arms)

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from the avett brothers' "murder in the city"

Stiles realizes Derek is driving back toward California two hours into their awkward car ride the next morning.

To be fair, the weird feeling he got watching familiar landmarks pass his window was nothing compared to the memory of Derek kissing him and shoving him away the night before. The man had been a good portion of his sexual awakening in high school, he had a right to be confused and disoriented. 

When the realization hits and the “Welcome to Idaho” sign makes his heart skip a beat, Stiles bolts up in his seat and watches as the sign passes the car. 

“What. The. Hell,” he whispers, and Derek doesn’t say a word. The bastard just keeps driving back toward Beacon Hills, like the place isn’t a hell on Earth for the two of them. Derek of all people should know why he can’t go back, not now, but clearly his brain function has been impeded by the short circuit their kiss created. 

“Pull over,” Stiles says, sitting back in his seat and turning his head to stare down Derek’s profile. “Now.”

“No,” the alpha huffs out, like his word is law and the very idea of thinking otherwise is preposterous. Stiles knows his self-confidence isn’t that excessive, knows that Derek is putting up a front to disguise how confused he is (and he wonders when he had the time to get to know Derek that well), but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to break his own hand on Derek’s jaw. 

“Pull over,” he repeats, the slow inhale and exhale through his nose that was supposed to keep him calm coming out shaky. “Please.”

He wonders later if it was the please that finally tipped Derek over the edge, because the alpha peers over at him briefly before finally slowing the car and pulling over to the side of the road. Stiles climbs out of the car just as it stops because he’s confident that having this conversation in a confined space isn’t a good idea. Derek stays in the car for a good thirty seconds and the idea of Derek being afraid of him almost makes Stiles smile.

Derek climbs out of the Camaro eventually, gingerly closing the car door and joining Stiles on the side of the road. The sun beats down on them in the middle of nowhere, Stiles waiting for Derek to start so they can finally fight out their issues where no one can hear them and call in a public disturbance. Stiles is doing the local police force a service, sparing them the horror that is Derek Hale in custody, truly. 

“What did you want to talk about?” Derek asks, like he hasn’t concocted a master plan to dump Stiles off in Beacon Hills and ditch him. 

“Take your pick,” Stiles laughs, his voice strained. “I mean, there’s the fact that you’re trying to drive me back to the only place I can’t be right now. Then there’s the fact that you kissed me last night and then shoved me off like I’d burned you. What do you want to talk about, Derek?”

Derek looks sick to his stomach, like he hadn’t realized how badly he’d been messy with Stiles’ head for the past twelve hours. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Stiles said, like a scolding parent. He crosses his arms over his ribs, like he’s trying to wrap himself up in a comforting hug. It doesn’t really help.

“You’re grieving,” Derek says after the silence spans for longer than a minute. It looks like the words are physically hurting him. “I didn’t... I don’t want to hurt you. And I don’t want to be a toy for you a play with while you’re hurting. I’m tired of being a toy.”

Stiles has always thought that Derek is smarter than people would like to give him credit for, but this must be his most idiotic moment to date. So Stiles smiles at him for the first time in hours and shakes his head. “I think that I can be trusted to decide who I want to kiss,” he says, “and I think we’re too honest with each other to be like Kate.”

Derek doesn’t wince at Kate’s name, hasn’t since the two of them killed her last spring. Instead, the guilty expression leaves his face and he looks lighter.

They kiss as the sun beats down on them and Stiles doesn’t regret the sunburn that marks his nose.

**Author's Note:**

> don't forget to leave a comment!


End file.
